The museum's collection of visual art focuses on Hawaii and the Pacific from the 18th and early 19th centuries, at the time of first western contact. The earliest pieces are those of artists associated with voyaging expeditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, including John Webber, the artist

who accompanied Captain Cook, and Louis Choris, the artist for explorer Louis Von Kotzebue. Included in the collection are approximately 250 oil paintings and 4,000 works of art on paper. Notable artists represented in the collection include: British painter George Carter (1737-1794); Titian Ramsay Peale (1799-1885); international portrait painter Enoch Wood Perry (1831-1915); maritime artist William A. Coulter (1849-1936); John Joseph Strong (1852-1899); and volcano artist David Howard Hitchcock (1861-1943).